OSHA Will Publish Employers' Injury and Illness Reports

5.16.16

The article, “OSHA Will Publish Employers’ Injury and Illness Reports,” featured in SHRM, reported on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) new rule that will require about 750,000 employers to submit detailed annual reports of workplace injuries and illnesses for publication online.

Ed Foulke weighed in on OSHA’s new rule.

“Employers want to do the right thing,” observed Ed. “But this may have the reverse effect of increasing employers who underreport incidents because of all the negative effects.” In announcing the final rule, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David

Critics said the rule will also give plaintiffs’ attorneys more ammunition. Said Ed: “Lawyers are going to look at this and say, ‘Oh my God, they had this number of injuries,’ ” which will facilitate lawsuits.

“Just because a company reports injuries, that doesn’t mean that they have a lousy safety program,” Ed said. “Accidents happen. We’re all human.” He said he has conducted many record-keeping audits for employers and believes that “there is probably more over-reporting than underreporting” of injuries and illnesses because employers want to be fully compliant.

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